


Long Time Traveller

by soprano_buddy15



Series: To Lay This Body Down [1]
Category: The Last Kingdom, The Last Kingdom (TV), The Warrior Chronicles | The Saxon Stories - Bernard Cornwell
Genre: Implied/Referenced Character Death, Old Age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27104164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soprano_buddy15/pseuds/soprano_buddy15
Summary: My soul now seeks another home,A brighter world on high.
Series: To Lay This Body Down [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1978306
Comments: 10
Kudos: 8





	Long Time Traveller

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Java_Blythe_Peralta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Java_Blythe_Peralta/gifts).



> Hello friends!
> 
> For my 49th and 50th fic (!!!!) I wanted to do something a little special. I unfortunately do not have the capacity to write another multi-chapter work like my Osbert one (I do miss him!) as I am also juggling writing papers and many other university related tasks. 
> 
> So, I figured, “Hey, why not post a part 1 and part 2 for your 49th and 50th fic?” 
> 
> And alas, I did it. 
> 
> This is part 1, and I would strongly encourage everyone to go and take a listen to “Long Time Traveller” by the Wailin Jennys before reading this. The title and basis for this work is that song. 
> 
> I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Java_Blythe_Peralta, for reading everything I send her way, and for her incredible friendship. Honestly, girl, we are gonna crush it next year as apartment-mates. 
> 
> I would also like to say a big thank you to the Enablers, who are so excited about everything TLK and also are just so ready to chat! I love and appreciate your friendship so much! 
> 
> And finally, thank you to all of the people who have been reading my fics from the beginning. You mean the world to me! 
> 
> Constructive comments are always welcome! Just don’t be rude, because nobody wants that.

The wind was blisteringly cold in Finan’s face, but he didn’t mind. 

It was refreshing, to be honest, and quite distracting. He had spent the last few years holed up in Bebbanburg, sitting longer and longer by the fire as his joints ached and bones creaked with age. He could still feel the heat of the flames and the warmth of the ale as he drank mug after mug. He could only remember the experience of going out to the tavern after a battle with his brothers, drinking until the sun came up again and his head ached.

They were all old and dead and gone. Well, most of them, at least. 

Sihtric had died, not six months ago, finally at rest with his wife. He could still remember waking up one morning, making the journey down the steps to sit at the fire, and had waited for him. And waited. But Sihtric never came down. The bright light of the pyre they had placed his body on burned harshly in his memory.

Osferth had died years ago, a cut from a minor skirmish that had grown infected. Sihtric had done his best to stem the infection, but it spread so terribly quickly and he passed surrounded by the three of them.

Their group hadn’t been the same since then. Uhtred became quiet, reserved, much more content to sit and drink and eat in the hall than go and cause trouble like he usually did. Finan knew that King Aethelstan was grateful for that too.

But Uhtred. Uhtred too was now withering away, but he was doing it in Eoferwic with his daughter and son-in-law. He had decided upon Sihtric’s death that it was time to truly leave Bebbanburg to his youngest son Osbert. It had been hard, but Finan supported Uhtred’s decision to leave and spend his time with his daughter and grandchildren. 

But Eadith. 

His beautiful Eadith.

She had been the turning point for Finan. 

She had been too sick to leave with Uhtred, and so Finan and her had decided to stay behind in Bebbanburg. Her lungs had rattled with every breath and her skin had been grey and sallow. He could still remember holding her frail body as she took her last few breaths, her hands embracing his as she passed.

The waves crashed and rocked the boat, the great oars creaking and slapping against the waves. At least the trading boat he was on was captained by a fair and honest man, the rowers treated well. It had been important to him. He had been approached by many slavers, offering cheap passage, but one look at the malnourished and ragged men huddled tightly together to stay warm and he had nearly cut the slaver’s throat. They didn’t approach him after that, and he was paying for it, quite literally. The honest captain had not been cheap. 

He had thought that anytime he would get on a boat to travel the sea would be too soon, but the two days they had been travelling had lifted his spirit’s more than he expected it to.

It had been two days since Eadith had been taken from him. Two days since they had put her body in the ground. His boys had stood beside him, and has much as he loved them he could not help but wish that it was Uhtred and Sihtric beside him, supporting him as he mourned his wife’s passing just as they supported him through everything else. 

His children were happy and thriving in Bebbanburg, their families growing. They were adults now, with children of their own, and he knew that it was time for him to leave. 

He had left almost immediately, only saying goodbye to his two boys. Only one had objected, pleading him to stay and be with them. He could live in their house, have his grandchildren grow up with their grandfather.

The other had stood quietly, only hugging Finan when he had left in the night. 

Life was fleeting, and the charms that had kept him around even more so. The sea and what lay beyond it called for him. He knew, the moment that Eadith had passed from this world to the next, that he needed to go. The things that brought him joy were gone.

His soul called for Irland again. He had not been there since his brother had put him on the slave ship and declared him dead. 

Or maybe it wasn’t just Irland. Maybe it was something else, something brighter. All he knew that he was _just. So. Tired._

He would miss his family, and Uhtred, and Stiorra. He would miss them more than he could bear. Their love had kept him going and he had loved them back with all of his heart. 

But Sihtric was waiting for him, _Eadith_ , in whatever life was after this one, be it Heaven or Valhalla. 

“Do you see that?” The captain asked, nodded his head towards the bow of the boat. There, just above the horizon, Finan could see the towering cliffs of his home’s coastline. 

The familiarity hit him with a pang. While Coccham and Bebbanburg had been his home, he had always felt as if he was only travelling on this land. Irland was his true home. 

And he was back. 

The moment his feet touched the earth, it was as if a static shock and run up through his legs. He looked around. After a moment, he realized with a start that this was exactly where he had been sold all those years ago. The town had grown significantly in his absence. 

People were walking amongst each other, chattering and searching the market for what they needed. 

_Their voices._ It was so achingly familiar. He could still hear the songs that were sung in the palace halls, and the cacophony of the voices around him built and grew into a wonderful chorus. It was bright and clear and rang through the crisp air. 

He had been travelling for so long. He knew that he was home. He knew that here, he would find his peace. 

He would lay this body down.


End file.
